Q: I read your recent column that said you think home prices will keep going up for the rest of this year. But the very next day, I heard a radio report saying that prices in 13 big housing markets are ready to fall. What gives?

A: I’ll stand by my earlier column that said home prices in most parts of the country would continue rising through the end of this year and into 2006. The national economy is getting better, construction is lagging behind housing demand in most areas, and mortgage rates remain near their all-time lows – all of which point to even higher property values in the months ahead.

The contradictory study that you’re asking about was assembled by California-based PMI Group, a financial-services company. The findings were published in this month’s issue of the respected Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, with a front-page headline that read “The 13 Riskiest Housing Markets.”

The story suggests that Boston is the nation’s riskiest housing market, and boldly states that there’s a 53 percent chance that prices in Beantown will drop in the next two years. The prediction is mostly based on the fact that the area has lost about 200,000 jobs since its high-tech bubble burst more than four years ago – but also notes, in passing, that prices have increased in what it terms “a relatively modest” 7 percent per year since then.

A 7 percent annualized return in each of the past four years sounds pretty good to me, especially when you consider that rates on most bank certificates of deposit are paying less than one-third of that amount and that many investors on Wall Street are losing their shirts on a daily basis. The report also fails to note that forecasters at the Federal Reserve say Boston’s overall economy appears to be on an upswing, and the Massachusetts Legislature recently unveiled a major financial-stimulus plan that could help create thousands of new jobs and thus further bolster all of the state’s housing markets.

Few popular housing areas escaped the study’s dour warnings. According to the report, prices in the greater New York City area (which are up 18 percent from a year ago, and more than 50 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks) may fall “because baby-boomers are moving out”; values in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (which surged 32 percent in the past year alone), could drop because of “aggressive buying by investors”; and home prices in Virginia, Maryland and the nation’s capital (already up more than 20 percent from a year ago) could tumble because “even a modest decline in government outlays could tip the housing market on its side.”

The study’s list of the “13 Riskiest” housing markets also include Detroit (too many layoffs in the auto sector, the report says); Minneapolis (troubles at a locally based airline could snap a three-year-long string of 9 percent annual price gains); Miami (prices are up a staggering 28 percent since last year, but the magazine suggests that values could collapse if retirees and foreigners suddenly end a generations-long tradition of moving there); and Denver (steady gains in home values might end if its all-important telecom sector doesn’t improve).

The report also says three California cities where prices have soared in the past several years – Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento – now have a 40 percent chance of falling home values in the next two years. Providence, R.I., has a 39 percent chance, and the Tampa-St. Petersburg market in Florida has a 14 percent chance.

I obviously don’t agree with most of the report’s findings, but opinions are like noses – everybody has his or her own.

Q: I received a $1,212 check from my homeowners insurance company to reimburse the cost of making repairs after a broken pipe flooded my kitchen and adjacent dining area. Every penny was needed to complete the work. Do I have to pay income tax on the check the insurer sent to me?

A: No. The check from the insurer simply allowed you to restore the damaged home to its original condition, so you do not have to report the check to the Internal Revenue Service, and no taxes will be owed.

Of course, the fact that the insurance company reimbursed you for the repairs also will prevent you from claiming a large casualty-loss deduction on your next income-tax return.

Q: If I form the type of money-saving living trust that you have written about, would I have to register it with the state government?

A: Only about a dozen states – Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota among others – have laws that, technically, require the registration of a newly created trust. However, none of those states impose a penalty on those who ignore the requirement.

– David W. Myers is a 20-year veteran of the newspaper and magazine business, having previously covered real estate for the Los Angeles Times and Investor’s Business Daily.